Re: Easter and the pagan goddess

Steve Hayes <hayesmstw@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>

>Re: Easter and the pagan goddess

>At last I think I have discovered the source of one of the persistent
urban
>legends about Easter -- the notion that it originated with a goddess
called
>Eostre or Ostara who was associated with hares and eggs. 
>
>The only reference I could find to this was the Venerable Bede, who
recorded
>that the old English name for April was Eostremonath, from which the
modern
>English word "Easter" comes, and he thought it was named after a goddess
>Eostre, about whom nothing more is known.
>
>As one blogger notes, "Jacob Grimm took up this remark of Bede, taking
the
>German name for the month, Ostara, as the name of a Germanic fertility
>goddess. The Icelandic sagas, our primary source for Germanic paganism,
make
>no mention of such a goddess."
>
>And suddenly things fall into place for me.
>
>Christianity was spread in Germany largely by English missionaries
(Boniface,
>Willibrord & Co), whose ancestors had migrated from Germany only a few
>generations before. At that time the languages had probably not diverged
very
>much, so the English and German dialects were probably mutually
intelligible.
>In such cir***stances it is quite conceivable that the German Christians
took
>over the English missionaries’ word for Pascha, which in German became
Ostern.
>
>I’m rather surprised that Grimm, as a linguist and philologist, didn’t
>apparently think of this. It’s also interesting that this didn’t happen
to the
>Dutch, for whom Pascha became Paas, since they were also largely
evangelised
>by English missionaries, but they were also closer to the Franks/Gauls,
and
>were perhaps influenced by them.
>

Hello,

Yet, the bottom line is that at Easter time, many professed Christians
mix in ancient pagan rituals such as rabbits and colored eggs etc,
into their celebration of Christ's resurrection. 

But genuine Christians go by God's word, the Holy Bible. (2 Ti 3:16)
They believe the principle stated by one of Jesus' hand-picked
apostles; "what fellow****p can light have with darkness". (2 Co 6:14)


Sincerely, James

**If you wish to have a discussion with me, please use email since I
do not follow ng threads

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>Anyone interested in the full story with links can check my blog at:
>
>http://khanya.wordpress.com/2008/03/22/easter-for-some/